We're Getting Close!

The Deer Harbor Community Club Board met Friday, May 22, to appoint a steering committee to oversee raising $250,000 to purchase the Deer Harbor post office property for from Wyndham Worldwide.

Due to the short time line—the sale closes on June 26th--the Community Club Board decided to abandon plans for a major fund raising event such as an auction or concert, and focus on securing donations.

At this time the legal aspects of the transaction are being reviewed, but we are very close to our goal of saving the Deer Harbor Post Office, and will soon need your financial support to make this goal a reality.

By Sunday evening, May 31st, the Steering Committee will announce where and how you can donate to the PO acquisition fund.

Please come to the blog after Sunday for the details.

The Next Step

Wyndham Worldwide has agreed to sell the Deer Harbor post office building to the Deer Harbor Community Club for $250,000.

The plan is to raise $100,000 in donations, and take out a bank loan for the remaining $150,000 if we can secure an affordable bank loan. The Community Club is a non-profit, which means donations to the post office fund will be tax deductible.

We need to raise the money before the closing date of June 26^th. The post office committee is meeting Friday evening to formulate fund raising plans. Everything is going to have to happen very quickly.

The Future of the Deer Harbor Post Office is Now in Our Hands

As of this afternoon, May 19^th, we have a commitment from Wyndham Worldwide to sell the Deer Harbor post office building to the community, AND a commitment from the US Postal Service  to remove the Deer Post office from the list of post offices to be closed, and to enter into a lease agreement with the community.

This would not have happened without the dedication and determination of the residents of Deer Harbor.  The committee wishes to thank everyone for their support, letter writing, and donations—it all made a difference.

NOW, we have a daunting task ahead of us.  Before the closing date of June 26, 2009, we have several things to do, not the least of which is fund raising.

The committee needs 48 hours to get together and figure out the next part of this process.  Stay tuned for further information!

Announced May 9th, 2009 at the Deer Harbor Community Potluck

Friday night, May 9^th, at the Deer Harbor Pot Luck, Erik Smith reported the following progress on our Save the Deer Harbor Post Office campaign:

When the post office officials who visited Deer Harbor nixed the two existing houses and two bare land properties the committee offered as potential locations for the post office, the committee decided on an alternative plan—try to BUY the existing post office and acquire a new lease from the USPS.

Even though most of us refer to the owners of the Deer Harbor Resort as TrendWest, the entire property, including the post office building, is currently owned by Wyndham Worldwide, a huge hotel and timeshare company that owns the Ramada Inn, Days Inn, Super8 and Travel Lodge chains among others.

About three weeks ago the committee made an offer to buy the post office building from Wyndham.  On Friday afternoon, May 9, Wyndham came back with counter offer.

In principal the post office has agreed to renew the lease on the Deer Harbor Post Office if the community should become the landowner.  This arrangement would be cost effective for the USPS because they would not have to spend money to increase the capacity of any other post office on Orcas, nor would they have to install mailbox kiosks in Deer Harbor. 

If we are able to reach the final agreement with both Wyndham to sell the current post office building to the community, and the USPS to keep the Deer Harbor post office opened sign a new lease ten year lease, we will,

• A.  Celebrate
  
• B.  o some serious fundraising

Many details need to be worked out, but it looks very hopeful at this point.

Stay tuned!

It's Been Awhile...but things are in the works

It has been a while since we've posted anything here.  Several possibilities are in the works, but there is nothing definite yet, and rather than speculate on a possibilities, the committee has decided to wait until there is solid news to report, which will hopefully be soon.

What is certain is the Deer Harbor post office status will not change before February 2010, and we are very hopeful about the future of the Deer Harbor Post Office beyond February 2010.  

Thanks to everyone who has written letters, donated money, and supported our local post office!

Some Bits and Pieces

Request for Postal Building Requirements
Last week Cathy Young, Facilities Requirement Specialist, and Les Stewart, Operations Manager, both from the Seattle Office of USPS, visited Deer Harbor. Ms. Young invited our committee to submit a proposal detailing our plans to find, develop, and possibly fund an alternative site for the Deer Harbor Post Office. She promised she would forward our proposal to the appropriate officials in the Denver USPS Office. At that time, Ms. Young was unable to provide us with any of building requirements for a post office. We have sent a letter formally requesting a list of these requirements so that we can draft a cogent proposal.

Letter Campaign...THANKS!
The Committee thanks everyone who has already sent off their letters to our Congressional Delegation, and urge those who have not done so to mail theirs as soon as possible.

Meeting With Catherine Nash, Regional Head of USPS
Two committee members are planning to meet with Ms. Nash, Regional Director of the USPS in Seattle next week, if her schedule will allow.

Meeting with Seattle USPS Officials, Report

Apr. 8th,
Today the Save the Deer Harbor Post Office Committee met with Les Stewart, Operations Manager, and Kathy Young, Facilities Requirement Specialist, from the Seattle District Office of the USPS.

The Committee asked the Post Office Officials to explain where the Deer Harbor Post Office stands right now. Both officials said that the current USPS policy is to consolidate post offices within 10 miles another post office. And, more importantly, post offices facing termination of of their leases are looked upon as prime opportunities for closure. Thus we have two strikes against us.

After explaining our circumstance--difficult roads, serving outlying islands, etc., we asked what it would take to continue to have a post office in Deer Harbor. Their response was:

1. The USPS would consider a proposal from the DH Community if the community committed to build or convert an existing building, to USPS specifications, at the community's expense. We have two weeks to make such a proposal.
   
2. When asked what would happen if TrendWest were to extend our lease, the officials said that would be a major consideration in our favor.
3. No matter what happens, we are guaranteed that delivery of mail to Deer Harbor would continue, but that the facilities might be a central collection of lock boxes, rather than a post office.
   

The committee also received a letter from our Congressman, Rick Larsen, who has contacted postal officials on our behalf. Given all the issues facing our nation at this time, we really appreciate Congressman Larsen's efforts on our behalf, and look forward to his continued support.